by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

HOUSTON - Had Kyrie Irving considered the scope of this stage he starred on, his All-Star weekend coming-out party may have never come to pass.

The eyeballs come from all angles and in record numbers in the NBA these days - people in 215 countries watching more than 140 hours of programming in 47 languages on televisions, tablets, laptops and the like. Irving, this 20-year-old prodigy who joined incredible company in becoming the seventh player to be an All-Star before his 21st birthday, is now a major player in this game that goes way beyond the game.

The business of basketball is booming these days, and the one-man brands of players like Irving are built in times like these. The Cleveland Cavaliers' point guard thrilled the masses in the Rising Stars game on Friday, won the three-point contest on Saturday and was ready to enjoy his newfound elite status in his first All-Star game on Sunday with 15 points on six of 11 shooting. All the while, the counterintuitive notion that the Miami Heat's LeBron James could return to Cleveland as a free agent in the summer of 2014 continued to grow, in large part, because Irving's talent is tantalizing enough to make the Akron, Ohio, native seriously consider going home again.

"He's unbelievable," James said about Irving's coronation as the new king of Cleveland. "He'll be (among) the top two, top three best point guards in the league. He's headed there already.

"He's doing some great things right now. They should be excited about having him in Cleveland."

Irving, who was deemed an All-Star reserve by the coaches despite the Cavaliers' 16-37 record, was synonymous with excitement all weekend.

His ankle-breaking moves against Detroit's Brandon Knight were the talk of the town on Friday night, and he was the star on Saturday night as well. During the championship round of the three-point contest, and with a jumping James cheering him on courtside, TNT commentator Kenny Smith said on the telecast, "This dude is trying to make a statement, man."

To which fellow analyst and Hall of Famer Reggie Miller replied, "Make a statement? He's just trying to take over the leagueâ?¦The world is yours, Chico."

By the time Sunday night arrived, it hardly mattered that Irving's weekend had gotten off to such an ominous start.

Irving came to Houston from Cleveland on Thursday, and the welcome challenge of keeping up with a jam-packed schedule began. The first of 27 items on his four-day itinerary was what's known in NBA circles as 'The Circuit,' a string of media appearances and in-house interviews inside the Hilton hotel that comes in rapid-fire form. And per the NBA-issued paperwork that became his All-Star weekend bible of sorts, this called for a collared shirt.

But the liquid vitamins in Irving's backpack had exploded on the flight into town, drenching the very attire that would have kept him in compliance with the dress code. There was no time to shop for a replacement, so he would spend the day discussing his life and his career - and, of course, the LeBron rumors - in a gray T-shirt, black pants and black Nikes.

His first stop was an entertaining reminder of the synergy between the NBA and the music industry. Surrounded by cameras, producers and white-hot spotlights inside a makeshift studio in the hotel, Irving was one of the many players asked to shoot a segment with hip-hop artist will.i.am that will be used as the intro for this season's playoffs and some 2013-14 regular season games.

Moments before sharing the stage with the music mogul best known as the singer of the Black Eyed Peas, Irving, who spent the day with his agent, girlfriend, a few friends and the head of Cavaliers media relations, was approached by a woman who became his new dance coach of sorts.

"Do you know how to dance?" she asked just before showing him the routine.

"A little bit," he said with a smile.

The singer had a one-on-one, dribbling dance-off with each player who came through, the two of them jiving in front in front of an enormous video screen that flashed the word POWER. The comedy came in the contrast, as will.i.am - who was wearing an 8-pound jacket that looked like basketball - was the resident expert in the dance department while struggling with the ball-handling skills that few players on the planet have mastered more than Irving.

The Cavaliers jersey came off and the infamous gray T-shirt went back on, and Irving made his way to the 'Circuit' that would occupy his next two hours. There was an NBA TV set, an ESPN radio room, an NBA Cares room and a photo studio where shots of players in their off-floor attire were tweeted to the masses and made available to the media. It was inside the Grantland room, however, where Irving struggled to keep up with the dizzying array of names, faces and microphones.

As he sat down for a one-on-one with the host, David Jacoby, he glanced at the banner behind him that promoted the website's founder and well-known sports media personality, Bill Simmons. The interview had yet to begin, but Irving had a question of his own.

"Are you Bill Simmons?" he asked Jacoby.

When told that Simmons was not in the room, he smiled and said, "Where's Bill Simmons?"

The Grantland interview and many more commenced nonetheless, but it was inside the NBA Cares room where Irving may have cared too much. As he answered scripted questions from a staff member about community service and what it means to him while standing in front of a green screen, Irving - who was given an NBA Cares shirt for the spot - hit the reset button four times before getting his message out the way he wanted.

"I have so many thoughts," he said, throwing his hands up in frustration before the cameras rolled again. "I want to include that 'I'm a kid, so I understand,' (and) how being where I am now I feel like it's my duty to help (others)."

For all the intriguing parts of Irving's story, whether it's his love of music (he still sings and played the horn baritone as a child) or the pursuits that go beyond basketball (he takes classes at Duke in the offseason and made a promise to his father to finish his education), the question of whether he would lure James back to Cleveland was the only one that seemed to matter over the weekend.

"Right now, I'm just living in the present," he said during the ESPN radio spot. "All the what-ifs, and what could happen, you know obviously people are going to be - I'll probably get that question all weekend. But right now it's just about me and my team getting better."

The mere fact that Irving is such a significant part of the James story line is as good an indication as any of his rising profile, not to mention the drastic change it represents from the start of his career. When he was drafted first overall by Cleveland, the only James-related question was whether Irving could handle the incredible shadow he had left behind.

"It's funny how the roles have changed a little bit," Irving told USA TODAY Sports. "I was replacing him, and now there's all these rumors that he can come back. But it's about brushing off that question and just being in the present - just being in the present and trying to develop this core group for the Cavaliers. My eventual goal is to win a championship. And before I retire I just want to win a championship. That's it. It's a learning process game to game."

And, if he keeps going at this pace, from All-Star Game to All-Star Game.